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Apple TV Concept Envisions iPod Touch-Style Remote

cymerc said:
The remote would cost more than the Apple TV box itself!
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Seems like anything around the house will be subjected to the ultimate test. Just cohabiting with children is bad for anything "touch" oriented. :rolleyes: May survive the occasional spilled milk, sputum, Soft Drink and etc., etc. but it tends to be costly to keep it safely useable and indestructible in those environs. :apple:
 
notbroke-ihope said:
Seems like anything around the house will be subjected to the ultimate test. Just cohabiting with children is bad for anything "touch" oriented. :rolleyes: May survive the occasional spilled milk, sputum, Soft Drink and etc., etc. but it tends to be costly to keep it safely useable and indestructible in those environs. :apple:
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Seems like having all those buttons that allow liquids to enter the inside of the remote would make it more vulnerable but, unless you have one of those nice Harmony remotes, you wouldn't mind throwing it away and getting new one. But you'd have to reprogram it.
 
My two biggest problems with such a remote would be, a) the short battery life (a remote should survive months, if not years on the same charge) and b) the delay, while the remote connects with the AT.
I use my iPhone as a remote for my Sonos, and once the phone is in standby the connection between the device and the phone is lost. It takes several seconds to then re-connect. It would drive me mad, when this would happen with a TV remote and changing channel or volume is constantly delayed. Keeping a constant connection between remote and AT would seriously jeopardize my first point.
 
luckydcxx said:
its more then that though. I pretty much know most of the buttons on the remote without even looking.

volume, channel, power, input, DVR, on demand.

There would be no way for a touch screen to replicate this without a physical button.
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Perhaps this is an issue with a narrow remote but you really don't need a physical button to "touch-hit." Assign four corners to 4 functions, up/down swipe, left/right swipe on something like the iPhone screen and you can easily do it intuitively.
 
I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this yet, but I'm not going to charge a remote control. Obviously a remote with a touch screen like that can't run on disposable batteries, so it will need to be chargeable. I already have plenty of devices to charge, I absolutely will not add a remote control to that list of devices. Not to mention, I want a remote that I can use without looking at it. Having to look at a remote to use it is an inferior experience to the traditional remote.
 
Mitochris said:
My two biggest problems with such a remote would be, a) the short battery life (a remote should survive months, if not years on the same charge) and b) the delay, while the remote connects with the AT.
I use my iPhone as a remote for my Sonos, and once the phone is in standby the connection between the device and the phone is lost. It takes several seconds to then re-connect. It would drive me mad, when this would happen with a TV remote and changing channel or volume is constantly delayed. Keeping a constant connection between remote and AT would seriously jeopardize my first point.
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That's poor app design. My XBMC remote app allows the iPhone to go to sleep but it's immediately there when I unlock with my finger so there's very little delay to use it. If I got in the habit of grabbing my phone with my id finger on the sensor there would be no delay at all. Like I said before, I barely look at the controls, especially when I'm in gestures mode where there's almost nothing on the remote I need to look at. Swiping changes the highlighted selection, single tap chooses that item, double tap backs me up in the menus, While I'm watching a video, swiping right or up goes fast forward, swiping left or down is jump backward. Pause/play toggle and stop is button on phone. Finger twist clockwise turns volume up and vice-versa until it mutes. It's really pretty slick.

As for charging, the article says "that might be wirelessly rechargeable via Apple TV" so you wouldn't have to think about it.

It's really just the age-old "I don't want to change what I already do" no more floppy discs song. Some people will kick and scream all the way but eventually get used to the new way.
 
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I don't believe this but if (IF) this is anything close to the truth we can kiss 2015 expectations of an Apple Television a long goodbye.
 
peterdevries said:
Oh please, I absolutely concede that tactile buttons are a plus for a remote, but a remote becomes nowhere near being useless if it is touchscreen based.
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Oh, a touchscreen remotes are more likely to have more features and functions than a traditional one. You can change anything on screen into anything you need. It can be a keyboard, channel switcher, or any controller.

But in the end it's usability that matter. Touchscreen is nowhere as usable as old buttoned remote.

I hate iTunes remote app because it feels less integrated than Music app inside my iPhone whenever I want AirPlay my musics.
Unlock phone - open Remote app - wait for connect - lagged response and database reading.
 
nice

if the could make a remote with LCD and buttons I would use it because I find the a tv remote better than the remote app with the exception of not having a keyboard so now I use a Bluetooth keyboard
 
laurim said:
It's really just the age-old "I don't want to change what I already do" no more floppy discs song. Some people will kick and scream all the way but eventually get used to the new way.
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How about a better way, instead of just a new way? Nothing about this bogus concept says better. It's just another iteration of the same old broken way, produced by people with very limited imaginations. It's a solution in search of a problem. It deserves no attention at all.
 
Shaun said:
I know. What happened to Cook's promise to release new products "throughout 2014" rather than release everything within the space of a few weeks like they did last year and the year before. I know it's only mid March but I haven't heard about anything on the horizon before WWDC in June.

That's the difference with Steve. He knew that you had to maintain people's interest in the brand by releasing new products month by month with lots of little hints and leaks in between. That kept the buzz going all year round. We might as well hibernate for 10 months of the year with Cook in charge as everything comes out in Sept and Oct. Makes the rest of the year bloody boring if like me you're an Apple news/products junkie.
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Steve had a way of making me excited to check the Apple website every Tuesday. It's not the same anymore.
 
There's nothing wrong with the current Apple TV remote button setup. The issue is the size of the remote and the design of the button themselves is pretty bad. There is no depth to the remote and the sides are sharp so it is really painful to hold. Even the buttons are so flat they are not very easy to use. A touchscreen would be even worse.
 
Voice control?

One element is id rather browse listings in my hand than on a screen which could be far or hard to see details.

"Show me what basketball games are on" and it shows me on the remote, and I click and the TV responds.

That could be kinda cool.

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pmz said:
Good grief. Its called an iPhone. Try finding an AppleTV owner that doesn't have one.

I mean that mockup/entire article is SO ABSURD it just perfectly points out how clueless people really are...

"wouldn't it be nice if the AppleTV remote had bluetooth and touch screen and Siri and keyboard and blah blah blah...just like an iPhone"

Just. Use. Your. iPhone. It's all there already, inside the Remote App.

I DO hope Apple does a slightly better job with the Remote App itself in the future, but that is neither here nor there...

Apple is already shipping the exact remote that they should...Except I would go back to plastic instead of aluminum so that it doesn't disappear into the couch so easily.
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Do both?

Its not much different than combining what is already there but adding Siri style controls and making it a standalone product for people who don't have iPhone/Airplay.
 
iSayuSay said:
I hate iTunes remote app because it feels less integrated than Music app inside my iPhone whenever I want AirPlay my musics.
Unlock phone - open Remote app - wait for connect - lagged response and database reading.
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Sure, but a dedicated remote for the Apple TV would not require those actions of course. In addition there is no reason why a touchscreen remote would not have a few hardware buttons for start, next, etc. After all, the iPhone too has hardware buttons to lock etc.

But let's not forget we are debating something that is not even a rumour. This is just a picture by someone with superior rendering skills. It has nothing to do with reality. I wish we would get some real news.
 
Mock ups are great but this is not realistic with the technology and materials and would increase apple tv prices to four or five times current cost.

Aluminium is out, touch screen is definitely out.

I don't think apple will go the way of a HDMI stick like many others but it'll be interesting to see why apple would persist when the technology can just be part of a much smaller device.

The remote is pants, what i'd like to see is tighter remote integration and apps working from iOS devices or being synced. Picture in Picture would be cool or being able to divide the tv in some way that meant you could avoid leaving a video while doing other tasks, like youtube does.

It's a very interesting area as most smart tvs have a gazzillion more button than they need for every function and are so backward. apple tv is refreshing that you don't even need to look down at it while using it. The only issue is text input for me.
 
bozzykid said:
There's nothing wrong with the current Apple TV remote button setup. The issue is the size of the remote and the design of the button themselves is pretty bad. There is no depth to the remote and the sides are sharp so it is really painful to hold. Even the buttons are so flat they are not very easy to use. A touchscreen would be even worse.
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Apparently, you don't have to enter text very often with it… I already have a caddy with five remotes in it (I looked into a universal remote but it wouldn't work for everything like my electric projector screen and the projector itself). I'll be damned if I have to add a bluetooth keyboard, too. There'll be no room left on my ottoman for my feet. Typing in my app for XBMC is so much easier than clicking around a hundred times on the minimalist remote.

Also, I don't think it needs to actually be aluminum or unibody for it to look like one.

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IJ Reilly said:
How about a better way, instead of just a new way? Nothing about this bogus concept says better. It's just another iteration of the same old broken way, produced by people with very limited imaginations. It's a solution in search of a problem. It deserves no attention at all.
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Feel free to suggest your idea of a "better way". *I* see this as a better way. The market will decide. I suspect how it will work out is a really basic remote will come with the unit and the more sophisticated remote will be optional as a physical model and an app if you happen to have an iPhone or Touch. Would be a great way to sell more iPhones and Touches for people on the edge of buying one.
 
The remote and the Apple TV looks amazing.

Would cost much more then the current one tho.

All we need is a hard drive and app store really :)
 
IJ Reilly said:
How about a better way, instead of just a new way? Nothing about this bogus concept says better. It's just another iteration of the same old broken way, produced by people with very limited imaginations. It's a solution in search of a problem. It deserves no attention at all.
Click to expand...

How about No remote at all and just work with the vast array of buttons on the TV remote they only seem to be there to control compatible HDMI devices?

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Mr. Retrofire said:
Let us ignore the possibilities which are available with WiFi remotes and let us use infrared remotes for the next 50 years. Stop all innovation!
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Bluetooth remote that also acts as iBeacon maybe?
 
cymerc said:
The remote would cost more than the Apple TV box itself!
Click to expand...

If you are talking about the current specs then yes. But who knows what the next Apple TV box will have inside of it.

That said, i don't buy this remote concept. Why would they basically remake the iPod touch when many if not most folks that use an Apple TV have an iPhone or an iPad
 
BJMRamage said:
yuck.

why build a remote like that...they already have a similar remote...your pre-purchased iPhone/ipod.
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Exactly. My cable provider and many others have apps that turn your device into a remote. Ditch the device specific remote and just allow iOS devices to control the Apple tv. I would really like to see the Apple Tv get it's own store.
 
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